I Did Not Hit My Benchmark.

So here we are again. Two weeks in a row and I’m not blogging about FIVE for ANYTHING.

Because I don’t really have FIVE things to talk about. REALLY. I mean I have LOTS to talk about (ALWAYS) but probably not stuff you’re interested in. Are you interested in the fact that I ate yogurt with blueberries, raspberries, and a little granola EVERY SINGLE DAY for breakfast? And then I ate a green leaf salad with bell peppers, cucumbers, carrots, sunflower seeds, and chicken with a super expensive Primal Kitchen salad dressing EVERY SINGLE DAY for lunch? And then I went home and ate two street-size chicken tacos EVERY SINGLE NIGHT for dinner? ARE YOU?! Because that’s all I’ve got until it was finally Friday and I had two donut holes for breakfast, a brownie for lunch, and Pick Up Stix for dinner.

Because, people, THAT WAS MY WEEK.

In the meantime . . .

I really really really wanted to, but I did not.

You guys.

Benchmark Advance is KILLING ME. It is BEYOND me.

I feel like a terrible teacher.

And I’m not saying that so that you will leave a comment or email me, and tell me how amazing I am. I promise. That is NOT what this is about.

But here it is. It’s February. FEBRUARY! Practically MID-February!

And I’m just standing around wondering what I’ve done for the last six months or so, Language Arts wise.

Seriously.

I’m not hating on Benchmark, either.

This is not about that.

I’m just remembering how our district used the Houghton Mifflin Language Arts curriculum for about . . . oh . . . fourteen years or so. Scratch that. Fifteen years. TO BE EXACT. And while it wasn’t the end-all, be-all, strictest-Common Core-situation, I KNEW IT. I knew which parts met the standards, I knew what I needed to supplement the curriculum, I knew where to fill the gaps, I knew what worked and what didn’t, I knew the pace of it, I KNEW IT.

And I do not know Benchmark.

And it confuses me.

And there are things I think I have already taught until my kids say I haven’t, even after I say but yes, I did, don’t you remember how we played that game show, and we were screaming and yelling, and having a grand ole time . . . AND THEY ALL JUST STARE AT ME BECAUSE I’M TRYING TO CONVINCE THEM THAT THEY ARE LAST YEAR’S CLASS. Or even THE CLASS BEFORE THAT.

Honestly.

I AM LOST.

I really really really miss the hardbound textbooks of the olden days. Don’t get me wrong. I love that we have consumable-floppy-text-magazine-type-of-things that each child gets to write in and “annotate” with our new Benchmark stuff. I DO LOVE THAT.

But . . . and maybe I’m missing something . . . BUT . . . the stories/texts/passages/what-have-you are just not that meat-y {SO FAR}. I mean, I have high hopes, but, as of now, they just are NOT that meat-y.

And meat-y stories lead to drawing conclusions, inferring, comparing and contrasting, identifying the problem, finding the solution, characters, setting, using various text features to locate key facts or information, ETC ETC ETC. Stories with SUBSTANCE lead to all kinds of good stuff.

And, SO FAR, I just feel like . . .

And all of that is what is leading me to think and reflect and feel like I am just the WORST teacher in the history of mankind.

HOWEVER.

I was talking to a couple of my fourth-grade teacher friends (holy cow, fourth grade, no thank you, nope, can’t) and THEY ARE FEELING THE EXACT SAME WAY.

And one of them PILOTED different series last year and she wanted WONDERS. Which, by the way, if I was voting on NAME ONLY, I totally would have picked the Wonders curriculum.

Wonders.

Wonder, the book.

Wonder, the movie.

Wonders of the World.

Wonders, the Language Arts Curriculum.

SOLD!

But that’s just me. It’s similar to how I’ll go for a certain football team. I just go with the color of the uniforms that I like best.

But.

Any who.

She had a Wonders textbook and it was hardbound and pretty and beautiful and I wanted it.

I wanted that HARDBOUND TEXTBOOK.

BIG SIGH.

I don’t know.

I mean it.

I really just do not know.

There are so many Teacher Editions and Supplemental Stuff and, even though it’s been six months, some of them are still shrink-wrapped.

So.

Yep.

There it is.

I am LOST.

I feel like I am KILLING it in Math. Which is, if I’m being even more honest with you, usually a struggle for me. But we are LOVING math. Give me all the counters, cards, games, apps, songs, whiteboard work, challenges, small groups, extensions, etc, GIVE IT ALL TO ME!

Is anyone else struggling with Benchmark? Does anyone out there have any advice for me? Is there something I SHOULD be doing? That you love? Is there something in my cupboard that I need to take out of the shrink-wrap immediately and use next week?

And, just so we’re clear, I know and understand that Benchmark is JUST A TOOL to meet the standards. I KNOW IT. And because I know it, I tend to revert back to things I’ve done in the past when, truthfully, my admin and my district WOULD LIKE ME TO USE THE CURRICULUM THAT THEY SPENT MILLIONS OF DOLLARS ON.

I also know the “shut your door and do what’s best for you kids motto” and I am a firm believer in that, too.

BUT.

I’m just going to leave this here and see if I get any response of any kind.

Because surely I am NOT alone, whether it’s the Benchmark curriculum or another curriculum, or just being on the Struggle Bus IN GENERAL.

Right?

We’re all in this together . . .

RIGHT?!

So. With all of that being said, I DID NOT HIT MY BENCHMARK. I did not. I WANTED to, but hitting curriculum would have hurt my hands.

My district adopted Benchmark Advance last year and I echo ALL of your concerns about the Kinder curriculum. My team tried and tried and tried to make some sense of it, but it was a complete failure. No amount of optimism could remedy that disaster. All of our planning time was wasted trying to figure out how to supplement/rework lessons that used the most watered-down 1 page “stories” that our kids were supposed to read and reread all week. They were bored to tears, we were bored to tears, and we ended up saying No Thank You after 3-4 months of misery. Thank goodness! We went back to our previous wonderful curriculum that was developmentally appropriate and engaging and we have regained our sanity! Sorry I have literally no advice on how to make it work because truthfully I think it’s the worst. I’m sorry for your struggle and wish you the best of luck!

In second grade I condense a Benchmark week into two days and then supplement the skill with close reading articles for the rest of the week. This is our 6th year with this curriculum and we haven’t seen the updated version yet so not sure how different what you have is but I don’t get it either. I’m happy with our close reading and I use what I can from Benchmark. 🤷‍♀️

We have Wonders and last year was the first adoption year. I didn’t like it last year. This year I feel like I know what I think is good and some things I can skip. Maybe you will feel the same next year. I felt like I was floating in all the material. It was way too much! Hopefully I like it even more next year. Some of the stuff is great, but other times I feel like I’m begging my first graders to come up with something they are never going to get. If I have to look in the TE to find an answer, then maybe it’s too much. Hope this helps!

We’re first year Benchmark (Sacramento area). There are things I like, but it is so…involved. There is no way I get even a portion covered, and I also have a 3/4 combo! I know that I don’t even know the hundreds of pieces/resources that are available. I feel it will take at least 3 years to understand the pieces and which to use for who and which to let go. I just ask God to be the teacher for me.

Hi Kristen,
I’m right there with you. Really. There is so much of the curriculum that I am not doing. Here is what I get to in my L.A. time slot:
I read aloud from the Big Book (extended read, or something like that). We discuss. We stand up for a stretch break, and then I read the Shared Reading while on the rug. We discuss a bit ( I pull some small part out of the abundance of teaching points in the teachers manual.) and then go to the desks to annotate. If I have time, we then do a bit of word work. This usually means they take out their mini white boards and follow my prompts to write spelling words/sentences. The next day we read it again and usually do the writing response. On day 3, we repeat this for the second shared reading of the week. On Friday, I don’t actually have a whole class L.A. time. I use the Benchmark guided reading books with my small groups (during Daily 5) for the unit if the level is appropriate. It is cool when the theme matches up so well. The small reading groups do one or two of the spelling practice pages (we have to copy our own.)
I am not getting to much of the grammar work. I occasionally do one whole group. I feel like a complete failure at Writers Workshop. I have done Lucy Caulkins for several years…but didn’t totally love it. I thought I would just try using the Writing program on Benchmark instead. But, I don’t get it. I don’t have time to study it. I’m reverting back to the Units of Study but now I’m way behind, and I’m having trouble fitting it in.
So yeah. I feel your pain. We hear from our district “Go easy on yourselves this first year with Benchmark. It’s ok to not do it all.” Nice to know, but I still get angst from all of the Benchmark stuff that is sitting in my cabinet. The struggle is indeed….real.

I hear you on this! We adopted Benchmark last year after using HM too. I saved all the phonics readers (I actually had to hide them from my admin last year who wanted “fidelity to Benchmark”) and I use those a lot during the week to have something my kids can actually READ! There’s so much of Benchmark I don’t use but rather look at the standards to guide my teaching. I follow the phonics sequence, use the big book and mentor reads, the shared reading books, and some of the leveled readers for groups. That’s it. I don’t touch the teachers manual. My advice is to pick a couple of areas to focus on using/mastering and supplement the rest. It’s a big program to try to learn in one year.

I’m so sorry! The struggle is real and you illustrate it so perfectly. I don’t have any advice except to tell you I have found, after teaching since 1990 (on and off), the best reading/language arts program EVER (in my humble opinion). I teach K but it goes up to 2nd. I’ve never loved a math or reading or writing program completely, ever. They are always missing a little something. I’ve used Superkids Reading by Rowland for the past three years. It’s been around for decades, but now has modern components. I would buy it with my own money to teach with it if I had too. It’s my favorite part of the day, the students LOVE it and there’s almost no prep work! The best part is it works! Our A.P. remembers learning to read with it and remembers all the characters and songs. I could go on and on, but if you ever have a choice, look into this one. 🙂